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Tech-savvy motorists now have the option to pay for parking in Warrnambool City Council’s off-street car parks via a smartphone app.

Council is undertaking a six-month trial and so far about 100 people have taken up the app option.

Warrnambool is one the first Councils in Australia to trial the EasyPark service, with Melbourne-based Kingston City Council successfully implementing it earlier in 2014.

Warrnambool City Council manager Health and Local Laws Ian Fitzgibbon said that the option of paying by phone was one example of Council making off-street car parking more convenient.

“Paying by phone comes in addition to the recently installed ticket machines in our off-street car parks, which are easier to use, more reliable and have more flexible payment options, including coins and credit cards,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“Council currently maintains over 1000 off-street car parking spaces, all of which are free on weekends.

“We have also recently published a CBD parking map, plotting out the myriad parking options including about 1000 free spaces.”

After registering for the EasyPark smart-phone app, motorists can pay for parking without having to use a ticket machine.

The app stores the user’s car registration and credit card details so payment takes only a few seconds.

An in-app alarm notifies the user when they have 15 minutes remaining, with additional time able to be purchased provided that time limits in parking bays are not exceeded.

EasyPark is used by over 200 councils and parking operators worldwide.